FALL RIVER — The sale was complete and the machinery was already delivered to the buyer when technical service got the call.

Raymond Lauzier, in technical services, took the call but quickly moved it up the line to Chris Fitzgerald, the new CEO at American Dryer Corp., 88 Currant Road.

“One of our dryers was sold to a woman’s organization in Africa,” Fitzgerald said. “It wasn’t sold through us. It went through one of our distributors. Basically, they needed some technical support, installation-related and parts-related.”

But once Lauzier began speaking to the buyers in Rwanda, the company realized it had more than a customer — it had a cause, Fitzgerald said.

American Dryer Corp. started 49 years ago in a mill on Kilburn Street. It moved to the Industrial Park in 1986 and has continually grown. Several departments in its 400,000-square-foot plant are running two shifts. It is the largest maker of commercial laundry dryers in the world.

Which is why a machine made in Fall River ended up in the Kibagabaga District Hospital in Kigali, Rwanda.

The machine was donated by the International Organization for Women and Development, doctors and nurses who travelled to Rwanda and saw women getting sick and dying from infections caused by bed linens, surgical gowns and surgical drapes.

The cloths were washed in hot water but then laid on the grass to dry because the hospital had no dryer.

“When we realized our machine would actually save lives, we knew we had to help,” Fitzgerald said.

And they did — with boxes of spare parts, advice from technicians along with extra manuals and schematics, so mechanics there can keep the dryer running.

“We export to the world,” Fitzgerald said. “We are proud of that.

“We have equipment installed in 90 countries around the world. Exports account for 25 percent of our sales.”

The machine that went to Rwanda is a high-capacity dryer, a machine 6 feet tall and 4 feet square designed for use by a hospital or hotel. American Dryer also makes machines for laundromats and the textile industry. Some of the company dryers can handle loads of up to 450 pounds.

“We make most of what we sell right here in this facility,” Fitzgerald said. “Our products are designed here, too.”

American Dryer is part of what is being hailed, nationally, as a resurgence of manufacturing in the United States. Compared to the companies that once hired thousands in Fall River, American Drier, with 250 employees, is small. But it is competing with companies from around the world and holding its own, Fitzgerald said. The company has shipped dryers to China, a real source of pride, he said.

Page 2 of 2 - But being part of an effort that saves lives is a special reason for pride, he said.

“We are proud that they chose our machine,” he said. “Now, we will do our part to support them.”